The Tower Of Doom FAQ
Version 2 - August 5, 1994
Written and maintained by Roland Acton
(malyon@wintermute.fullerton.edu)
INTRODUCTION
------------
Welcome to the Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom FAQ! I've put
well over 100 hours into this game, and when I heard that there
was interest in an FAQ, I decided to make this one up.
I don't play the RPG, but I do have several of the manuals from
it. In this FAQ, I'll be making constant comparisons between the
rules in the real Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated D&D) and the
rules in the Tower of Doom (abbreviated ToD). In most cases, I've
chosen not to use terms like "hit dice", because they're confusing
to anyone who hasn't played the game. Instead, I simply describe
things in terms of their relative power.
There have been three major releases of the RPG D&D. The first,
"original" D&D, was released in four boxed sets. One set was the
"Expert" set, and was the "real" D&D. Another, the "Basic" set, was
only designed for low-level characters and had a number of rule
simplifications to make play easier. The two others, "Companion" and
"Immortals", were intended for extremely high-level characters.
The second release was called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and
is the one that most people are familiar with. The game was
considerably expanded and included rules for almost all facets
of medieval life. This made things more complicated, but usually
led to a greater feeling of reality.
The third release, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: 2nd edition,
revamped many of the rules of the game. The game's emphasis was
shifted to be less towards combat and more towards actual role
playing.
There have been other releases (starter kits and the like), but
I consider these to be the major divisions of the D&D universe.
I've been told that ToD is set in the universe of the original
D&D, in a world called Mystara which was included as part of
the Expert set. Unfortunately, I don't have the Expert set; all
of my manuals are from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition.
Thus, when I say "D&D" from now on, I'm actually referring to
AD&D, 1st edition.
Oh, I read recently on r.g.v.a. that ToD is not being sold in a
cabinet - it is available only as a conversion kit for existing
games. The price of this kit is currently $1,800.
BASIC INFO
----------
The game is divided into seven segments. In each segment, the
characters will fight monsters and gain treasure and experience
points. At the end of each segment, every character will gain one
level. The characters will then visit a shop where money picked up
during the segment can be used to buy weapons and healing potions.
It's important to make it clear that each character gains EXACTLY
one level at the end of each segment. This deviates from D&D, where
a certain number of experience points must be gained in order to
advance a level. In ToD, experience points are for scoring purposes
only and do not affect the actual gameplay in any way.
The way in which combat works is derived from the old Double
Dragon game. It's the same system that we've seen in previous Capcom
games such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Warriors Of Fate.
With few exeptions, in order to attack or be attacked you must be on
the same horizontal plane as your opponent. The basic fighting
strategy in all of these games is the same: move above or below your
enemy, move horizontally until you're at the distance you want to
be, then move up or down to bring yourself back in line with your
opponent and attack.
Many things in the game have a degree of randomness to them. In
particular, damage is slightly randomized. The same kind of attack
may do more damage one time and less another time. It doesn't vary
as much as in D&D, though.
Each character has an inventory. There are two buttons related to
this inventory, one for paging through it and the other for using
the selected item. The spells known to your spellcasters are
considered to be part of this inventory. Inventory items displayed
in green are standard weapons like daggers, ones in red are
magic-user spells or spell rings, and ones in blue are clerical
spells or spell rings. It can be quite difficult to find the item
you want to use when you're under attack by a monster! Note that you
can select items (but not use them) when you're using your shield to
defend yourself.
Daggers are thrown horizontally by characters. Hammers bounce up
and down, and have a chance of making any enemy they hit dizzy.
Arrows do more damage than daggers, but leave your character more
vulnerable while he's firing them. Burning oil explodes into flame
when it hits the ground. This fire will set anyone aflame who
touches it, including the players! The oil is very powerful if used
carefully, because many monsters are too stupid to realize that fire
burns. They'll sustain damage and be vulnerable until the flames go
out.
Spell usage differs from D&D. In D&D, characters memorize spells
before adventuring (magic-users from their spell books, and clerics
by praying to their god). Each character has a limit - dependent
upon his level - of how many spells he can cram into his brain. Any
spell scrolls (a scroll with the magical formula for a spell written
on it) that the character possesses are considered completely
separate from the spells that the character has memorized.
In ToD, each spell scroll that you pick up is combined with those
spells that your character has memorized. For example, if the Elf
has two Fireball spells memorized, and picks up a Fireball scroll,
she now has three Fireball spells memorized. At the beginning of
each segment, the game will check each kind of spell your character
has. If your character has fewer instances of the spell memorized
than he's supposed to, the game will give you the extra spells. If
the character has more instances of the spell memorized than he's
supposed to, the game will do nothing. This means that it's possible
to hoard spells, gradually accumulating more and more from scrolls
as the game progresses. In most cases, though, it's not worth it.
The actual casting of the spell, too, is different. In D&D, each
spell takes a certain amount of time to cast, which depends upon the
particular spell. The world goes on during the casting, and the
target of the spell may run away or attack the caster before the
spell is complete.
In ToD, whenever a player casts a spell, the screen dims out and
time stops...sort of. Players and monsters cannot initiate any new
actions, but any "special attacks" continue. Magic missiles will
continue towards their targets. Burning oil fires will fizzle out.
Knocked down players will get up. The Dark Elf will come down from a
leap that he initiated before the spell was cast. And so on. It's
not clear to me how much of this was intentional, but it does have
an impact on the game. Of significance is that all players are
COMPLETELY immune to damage during the spellcasting (but monsters
are not).
Sometimes there is a choice of which way to exit a passageway -
for example, a door near the top of the screen and another at the
right. The game will force the party to stick together. Once one
player leaves the passage, all other players must go through the
same door he did. If you think (or know) that one way is better than
another, you can force the party to go that way by rushing ahead of
your comrades and through the door.
It may surprise experienced players, but there really is a time
limit for the completion of each combat round in the game. Most
people are unaware of it, because it's set ridiculously high (at
least five minutes, maybe more), is reset whenever someone puts
money in, and only appears when there are thirty seconds or less
remaining. If the time limit is exceeded, all player characters
fall to their knees in shame and the continue screen pops up.
In the shops at the end of each segment, players can use the money
they've acquired to buy daggers, hammers, arrows, oil, and healing
potions. Healing potions are always consumed immediately. The shop
has an unlimited supply of weapons, but only a certain number of
healing potions. The shop will have from two to seven potions,
depending upon how many people are playing and how much of the game
has been completed. It can be an advantage to be player #4, as that
player's selection finger always starts out right next to the
healing potions!
It is possible to give money to the other players. Place your hand
directly on top of the hand of the other player and press the "use
item" button. Ten silver pieces will be transferred from your
inventory to the other player's.
You can talk to the shopkeeper by clicking on his or her face. The
shopkeeper will say different things depending upon the path your
party has taken through the game. You can talk to a shopkeeper one
additional time by clicking on his or her chest.
Before beginning the next segment, each character will gain a
level (increasing the size of their life bar), heal a small amount
of damage, gain spells (if applicable) up to a certain minimum as
described above, and gain shop-sold weapons up to a certain minimum
in a similar way.
THE MOVES
---------
All four of the characters have the same set of moves to
choose from:
Standard attack: Push the attack button repeatedly. Your character
will cycle through four different attack moves. The first two
don't do much damage. The second two do a considerable amount of
damage, but may well be blocked by your opponent. Each of the four
attacks usually has a slightly greater reach than the one before it.
Slam attack: Push the attack button while pressing the joystick in
the direction your character is facing. Your character will cry out
and swing his weapon with all of his strength. This attack is
roughly equal in power and reach to your third standard attack move.
You can abort the attack at any time before it lands by pulling
the joystick away.
There is a chance that the slam attack will make an opponent
dizzy, particularly if the Cleric does it.
The Cleric's slam attack can hit enemies who have been knocked
down. Also, it's possible to hit an enemy TWICE if it's just the
right distance away.
Pick up: Stand on top of a treasure item (coin, ring, ect.) and
press the attack button. Your character will crouch, pick up
the treasure, and stand up again. Picking up has priority over
attacking, so beware of trying to fight while standing on
treasure!
Read: To read a sign, stand in front of it and press the attack
button. Each character can only read a particular sign once.
Dash: Tap the joystick once in the direction your character is
facing, then press it in that direction again and hold it. Your
character will dash across the screen. It is possible to move up or
down during the dash. In fact, if you turn the joystick straight
up or down, your character will be stopped at the top or bottom
of the screen, but will continue running again when the joystick
is returned to the horizontal. If you run into an enemy during the
dash, the enemy will be knocked down and may be dizzy when it gets
up.
Two things to keep in mind: first, the game remembers a joystick
tap for about half a second after you do it. If you accidentally
tap the joystick once, then try to dash, you won't be able to do
it - you'll be out of sync with the game. Second, remember to turn
in the direction you want to dash before you do the move. Failure to
turn first will also put you out of sync with the game.
Dash attack: While dashing, press the attack button. The dash attack
is very useful - it often lets you hit an opponent before they
have a chance to use their weapon. It's also great for coming to
the rescue of a comrade.
Jumping: You jump by pressing the jump button. Once in the air,
there are several attacks you can make. By just pressing attack,
your character will slash the air in front of him. By pressing
attack while holding the joystick opposite the direction you're
jumping, you will strike behind you. By pressing attack while
holding the joystick down, your character will come down from the
jump sword first. This looks very deadly (especially when the Elf
does it) but doesn't actually do much damage and leaves you
vulnerable for a moment afterwards. However, it can hit enemies
who have been knocked down.
If you jump while dashing, you'll go a little higher, but it's
not enough to be significant.
Defend: Push and hold the attack button, then pull the joystick
away from the direction you're facing. Your character will hold
his shield up and slowly retreat. Once the shield is up, stopping
in place will keep it up, but your character will lower his shield
if you move forward. The shield doesn't stop everything - hell
hound breath, for example, will go under it - but it is a VERY
important part of the game. Some attacks are just too fast to
dodge, and the shield can block multiple attacks at once, as long
as they're all coming from the direction you're facing.
There are sometimes problems with the shield not coming up,
even though you're holding the attack button and pulling back as
directed. You must press the attack button FIRST - otherwise you'll
just turn around - and you have to press it when your character's
feet are on the ground.
Riposte: Block an attack with your shield, then IMMEDIATELY push the
joystick towards the enemy and press the attack button, as if you
were doing a slam attack. Your character will do a lightning
riposte. The riposte seems to always hit, but I never use it because
the game gives you so little time to do it after the block.
Ground attack: Stand just above an enemy who has been knocked
down and press the attack button. Your character will use his
weapon to strike at the helpless opponent. This attack doesn't
do much damage, but is fairly safe (though some of the boss enemies
won't take kindly to it). Unfortunately, it's hard to get into
position for this attack before the enemy gets up.
Crouch: While pulling the joystick down, press and hold the jump
button. Your character will crouch. There are a number of uses
for this. You pick up treasure about three times as fast as normal
while crouching (important in a multi-player game!). You can use
your weapon to hit enemies who have been knocked down. However,
you're still vulnerable to the same attacks as you were while
standing up, and you can't use your shield.
For some strange reason, you can't crouch right after you
beat a boss enemy. You'll have to pick up any treasure it
dropped the slow way.
Rolling attack: Crouch, let go of the jump button, and then
quickly press the attack button. Your character will roll forward
a distance and strike out with his weapon. This attack is VERY
fast but doesn't do a great deal of damage. It's also extremely
difficult to pull off. You must press the attack button while
the frames which show the character getting up are being
displayed - if you press it too early or too late, nothing will
happen.
The rolling attack cannot be used to hit enemies who are right
in front of you, because your character does not strike out
with his weapon until he completes the roll.
This attack can hit enemies who have been knocked down, if you're
the right distance from them. This is easier with some characters
than with others.
A player at a local arcade who plays as -LOSER- says that this is
the best attack in the game - and he's right! The speed of the
rolling attack often lets you hit enemies before they can block you,
and can also be used to run away from a bad situation. Learn to do
this attack on demand and your game will improve tremendously.
Slide: Crouch, hold the joystick diagonally down and in the
direction you're facing, then release the jump button and quickly
press it again. Your character will slide across the ground.
Note that this is not an attack - your character does not use
his weapon during it, and is still vulnerable to damage.
Back roll: Crouch, hold the joystick diagonally down and away from
the direction you're facing, then release the jump button and
quickly press it again. Your character will roll a short
distance backwards. This is not an attack, and your character
can be hurt while doing it.
CHESTS, TREASURE, AND TRAPS
---------------------------
Treasure is found throughout the game. It can be any (or several)
of the following:
"Experience" treasure: Bracelets and tiaras are examples. This kind
of treasure will give experience points to the character who picks
it up. As previously mentioned, experience points are just a way to
get on the high score screen and have no importance within the game.
Monetary treasure: Coins, usually. These can be either silver or
gold pieces. The money your character has is expressed in silver
pieces, and one gold piece is worth ten silver pieces. There can
also be bags of coins, each of which will contain ten or more coins
of one type.
Keys: These can be used to open locked chests. The number of keys
your party has will be shown in a corner of the screen. Each key can
open exactly one chest. There aren't very many keys in the game, but
there aren't many locked chests either.
Weapons: The same kinds of weapons that you can buy in shops.
Spells: These are written on scrolls. Red scrolls can only be picked
up by the Elf and blue scrolls can only be picked up by the Cleric.
Each scroll has an abbreviation on it that indicates what type of
spell it is. For example, CW is Cure Serious Wounds. Picking up a
scroll gives you an extra spell of that type.
Spell rings: These rings can be picked up and used by any character.
Each of them contains a magic-user or cleric spell. A ring can be
used only once before disappearing from your inventory.
The spells that can be on rings are: Magic Missile, Fireball,
Lightning Bolt, Continual Light, and Cure Serious Wounds. It's
possible to tell these rings apart before picking them up (each has
a different design and color scheme on it). Ring spells are
noticeably less powerful than the spells that the Elf and Cleric can
cast. Notice, for example, that the fireball from a Fireball ring
detonates with fewer explosions than the one that the Elf casts.
There is no direct D&D analogue to the ToD's spell rings. The
closest thing would be a "ring of spell storing", but that kind of a
ring can be recharged after use, whereas the ToD's rings cannot.
Healing potions: These are small blue bottles. They are always
consumed immediately upon being picked up, and will restore a small
portion of the character's life bar. There are several super healing
potions scattered through out the game, and these are about twice as
effective as the normal kind.
Boots of speed: In D&D, these boots allow the wearer to move at the
speed of a fast horse. They also improve the wearer's armor class by
two points. In ToD, these boots double the character's movement
speed, which in itself is a considerable combat advantage.
Gauntlets of ogre power: In D&D, these gauntlets raise the wearer's
strength to 18 and dramatically increase both his chance of hitting
an opponent and the damage he can inflict. They do make a noticeable
difference in ToD, though not an overwhelming one.
Protection ring: In D&D, these rings improve the wearer's armor
class. Each ring has a "plus" associated with it; the number of
plusses is the number of points by which the wearer's armor class is
reduced. In ToD, these rings seem to decrease the amount of damage a
character sustains when attacked.
If a character wearing the above mentioned boots, gauntlets, or
protection ring is hit, there is a chance that one of these magic
items will be damaged (and rendered useless). Worse, if you're
killed you'll lose them all!
Usually this treasure isn't just lying around. Often it's found
inside of chests, which may be (gasp) trapped!
There are several things you can do with a chest. The most obvious
one is just to knock it open with your weapon. If the chest is
trapped, however, the trap will spring immediately, and the
character who struck the chest will usually be caught in the area of
effect. The preferred way to open a chest is to stand in front of it
and press the attack button. The trap (if there is one) will still
spring, but you'll be warned and have a second to get away. Some
chests are locked, unfortunately, and must be knocked open if you
don't have a key.
If you stand behind a chest and press the attack button, your
character will try to lift the chest. If the chest is trapped, it
will open instead and the trap will spring immediately. If not, your
character will lift the chest above his head and walk around
(slowly!) with it. Pressing the attack button will make the
character throw the chest, damaging any enemy that it hits and
shattering it in the process. Some chests are too heavy to be
lifted.
A few chests are made out of metal. These chests cannot be knocked
open. If the chest is locked and you don't have a key, you're out of
luck.
BE CAREFUL when throwing chests around! Like burning oil, chests
can hurt the other players - and they do a LOT of damage! I once
killed a hell hound simply by throwing a metal chest at it!
The kinds of traps that can be on a chest are:
Fire: Fire will burst out of the chest, setting anyone nearby
aflame.
Deadfall: Rocks will fall from the ceiling and slam into the ground
near the chest. Some of these will fall randomly; others will be
deliberately aimed at the players! The deadfall has a limited range,
so just walk away to avoid it.
Gas: Everyone near the chest will be put to sleep (wiggle joystick
to wake up). Invariably, there will be several skeletons nearby
which will be activated as part of the trap.
Arrows: Arrows will shoot out from the chest, usually striking
players who are on the same horizontal plane as the chest.
Petrify: A violet ray will shoot out from the chest, striking any
player on the same horizontal plane. The player's character will
immediately start to turn to stone (wiggle joystick to escape
petrification). If you fail to escape the trap within the time
limit, your character will be completely turned to stone and killed.
This trap can be deadly if it catches you by surprise.
Albert Mok pointed out that the Gas and Petrify traps will drain
your life force until you are able to escape from them.
Interestingly, fire and deadfall traps will also hurt monsters in
the area of effect. This can sometimes be used to advantage.
A netter called MoonLite discovered that what is inside a chest is
determined by which character opens it. For example, there is a
small chest directly to the left of the entrance to the Ogre's lair
in the mountains of segment 1. If the Elf opens this chest there
will be a Fireball spell inside. If, however, the Cleric opens the
chest it will contain a Striking spell. This rule only seems to
apply to chests, not monsters. Which treasures appear when a monster
is killed depend upon what characters are in the game but NOT, it
seems, upon who killed the monster.
THE CHARACTERS
--------------
The statistics for each character (taken from the game's attract
mode) are shown next to his or her description. The game appears to
actually use these statistics in determining damage given or taken.
Strength is both muscle power and the ability to use it to best
effect. Intelligence is the ability to reason and remember. Wisdom
includes judgment and intuition. Dexterity is quickness and agility.
Constitution refers to the general toughness of your character's
body - its resistance to damage. Charisma includes both physical
attractiveness and a commanding personality. Ability scores range
from 3 to 18, with 12 considered average.
Interestingly, the pictures of the characters match their charisma
scores! Notice, for example, that the Elf is only slightly
attractive, while the Cleric is very handsome.
Armor class is based on a number of factors, but is basically how
well the character is protected against attacks. It ranges from ten
to negative ten. The lower the number, the better protected the
character is. As a book I once read put it: Positive ten is stark,
raving nude. Negative ten is roughly equivalent to a walking
blockhouse coated with three inches of tungsten-steel armor.
The default name is the one the game will assign to the character
if you don't give him one. The preferred name is the one that I
usually use when playing the character. Readers of the Forgotten
Realms novels will recognize where most of them come from. If you
live in Southern California and see one of these names on a high
score screen, I may well have been there!
--- FIGHTER ---
Default name: Crassus Preferred name: Wulfgar
Strength: 12 Age: 22
Intelligence: 9 Armor class: 2
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 14
D&D: A fighter is a character skilled at physical combat. Fighters
are familiar with all types of weapons, armor, and shields, and know
how to use them to best effect.
ToD: The Fighter is the best character for a beginner to play. He
has both reach and power. Although he can't cast any spells, this
too is an advantage to beginner players because it means less
fumbling with the inventory.
If the Fighter's inventory is completely empty, pressing the "use
item" button will make him do a somersaulting sword attack. This
looks impressive, but doesn't seem very useful in practice.
--- ELF ---
Default name: Lucia Preferred name: Anathema
Strength: 7 Age: 99
Intelligence: 15 Armor class: 5
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 8
Charisma: 14
D&D: Elves are a race of short, slim humanoids with pointed ears.
Most of us would find them to be "cute". Elves are happy and
carefree, being serious only when the situation demands it.
The ToD cabinet describes the Elf as a warrior mage. In D&D terms
this makes her a multi-classed character. Such a character has most
of the best features of each class (fighter and magic-user in this
case), but advances in levels more slowly. That's why the Elf's
level is noticably lower than the other characters at the beginning
of the game. In Mystara all elves are always fighter/magic-user
combinations.
The Elf's age is not a typo. Elves have a lifespan of over a
thousand years!
ToD: The Elf's short sword has reach, but not much power. She has a
battery of offensive spells which can be very helpful to the party
if used properly. These spells appear as items in the inventory.
The Elf's spells are:
MAGIC MISSILE
D&D: This spell creates a glowing dart of magical energy. The
magician controls this dart and can cause it to strike any opponent
he desires. As long as the opponent is within the range of the
spell, the dart will never miss.
For every two levels of experience the magic-user has, he can
create one additional missile.
ToD: In the first two game segments, this spell creates only one
missile and is fairly useless. From segment three onwards, three
missiles are created. Each missile will home in on one enemy (the
game will decide which enemy). If there aren't enough enemies, the
extra missiles will fly off of the screen and be wasted. If one of
the aimed missiles hits its target, and one of the extra missiles is
still on-screen, the extra missile will be directed towards the
enemy that was just hit.
It's possible to nail an opponent with all three missiles, if
there are no other enemies on the screen and the opponent is in the
right place.
INVISIBILITY
D&D: This spell makes the magician invisible (but not inaudible).
The invisibility will last until it is magically dispelled or until
the magician makes an attack.
ToD: Once you cast this spell, the Elf will flicker to indicate
that she's invisible. In a multi-player game, this will make the
monsters ignore you and attack the other players. Thus, you can use
this spell to "hide out" if your life bar is low. In a solo game,
the monsters will move back and forth in a predictable pattern,
striking out once as they move in each direction. You can sneak up
on one of the monsters and get in a free hit.
The invisibility spell will be cancelled if the Elf makes an
attack, is hit by something, or too much time passes (about 30
seconds). It's possible to pick things up without breaking the
spell, but this requires care - if the game doesn't think you're
close enough to the treasure, the Elf will swing her sword instead
and become visible.
Flamewing and Deimos are not fooled by this spell.
FIREBALL
D&D: This spell causes an explosion of flame. The magician
determines the location of the explosion. The higher the level of
the magician, the more damage the fireball causes to its victims.
ToD: A fireball shoots out in the direction the Elf is facing and
detonates against the ground. Any enemies within the blast radius
take damage and are set on fire.
If an enemy is between the Elf and the detonation area, it takes
DOUBLE damage - once from the fireball, and then again from the
explosion. This really helps against the boss enemies - if you're
good enough to pull it off.
LIGHTNING BOLT
D&D: This spell fires a bolt of electrical energy. The higher the
level of the magician, the more powerful the bolt is.
ToD: The Elf fires a lightning bolt in the direction she's facing.
Any opponents near the path of the bolt are affected by it. Try to
line the monsters up before using this spell.
Albert Mok says that there is sometimes a yellow circle around a
monster hit by this spell, and wonders if it means that they failed
their saving throw.
POLYMORPH OTHER
D&D: This spell can be used to turn one kind of creature into
another kind of creature. The transformation is permanent, and there
is a chance that the recipient will die from the stress it places on
his body. Most creatures prefer their own form and will not subject
themselves to this spell if they have a choice.
ToD: This spell creates a small purple cloud in front of the Elf. If
any enemies are caught within the cloud, one of them (the game will
choose) will be turned into something harmless (such as a toad or
fox). Undead and boss enemies are not affected by this spell.
Anything else is fair game.
The purple cloud itself is interesting to look at. It seems to
shift through various beast-like shapes...or is that just my
imagination?
Enemies eliminated by this spell will never drop any treasure.
Sometimes this will cause valuable items to be missed.
CLOUD KILL
D&D: A horrible greenish-yellow cloud is created. This cloud is
deadly poison and kills weak creatures outright. The stronger the
victim, the less likely it is to be affected by the spell.
ToD: All enemies on the screen that need to breathe are killed
instantly. This spell does not affect the Dark Elf.
ICE STORM
D&D: This spell can either be used to create hail stones which
damage enemies, or to create a blizzard which will blind them.
ToD: All opponents on the screen sustain damage. Those that survive
the spell are stunned for a very short period of time.
--- CLERIC ---
Default name: Greldon Preferred name: Dispater
Strength: 9 Age: 29
Intelligence: 15 Armor class: 5
Wisdom: 12
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 17
A cleric is a priest who has taken up some of the ways of a
fighter. Their vows prohibit them from using edged weapons. Thus,
the Cleric in ToD is armed with a mace, and cannot buy (or pick up)
daggers or arrows. His mace is not extremely powerful, and has a
very short reach, so I consider him a bad choice for a solo game.
Clerical spells are mainly related to healing and defense. The
Cleric in ToD can cast the following spells:
TURN UNDEAD
D&D: This is not actually a spell, but an innate power of the
cleric. If the Turning is successful, the affected undead will be
afraid of the cleric and run away from him, if possible. The level
of the cleric and the kinds of undead present affect the chance of
success.
ToD: This "spell" can be used as many times as desired. It will kill
all undead currently on the screen. However, the Cleric is
vulnerable for several seconds while attempting the Turning. If the
Cleric is struck by an enemy, he takes damage and the Turning fails.
Obviously, you should try to be as far away from any monsters as
possible when attempting a Turning. If reliable people are playing
the other characters, you may be able to get one of them to stand
between you and the monsters, using their shield to protect both of
you.
Undead who are Turned will never drop any treasure. Sometimes
this will cause valuable items to be missed.
HOLD PERSON
D&D: This spell freezes a limited number of enemies in place. The
higher the level of the cleric, the longer the opponents will be
frozen.
ToD: This will surround monsters with glowing blue rings. The
monsters will be held, completely vulnerable, until they are
attacked or until a few seconds have passed.
Note that this spell only works on "people" - gnolls, troglodytes,
and the like. In particular, undead are NOT people! Also, most boss
enemies will not be affected by this spell.
STRIKING
D&D: This spell isn't in my manuals, and I couldn't find it in the
AD&D 2nd Edition manuals I paged through. It may just be Capcom's
invention.
ToD: This spell makes a weapon do more damage. It's normally cast on
the Cleric's mace, but it can be cast on another player's weapon by
standing very close to him and using the spell. Casting the spell
more than once seems to make the weapon do even more damage. I have
no idea how long the weapon stays "powered up" - only for a few
seconds, it seems.
CONTINUAL LIGHT
D&D: This spell creates a globe of light that is permanent until
dispelled. It can be used in combat by casting it at the eyes of an
enemy. If the enemy is hit by the spell, it will be temporarily
blinded by the light.
ToD: All enemies who are near the cleric will be temporarily
stunned by the light. This leaves them vulnerable to attack. The
spell does not affect undead.
STICKS TO SNAKES
D&D: This spell temporarily turns sticks into snakes that will move
and attack as commanded by the cleric. The higher the level of the
cleric, the more snakes that can be created and the longer they will
last.
ToD: This spell creates three snakes that will attack enemies. The
game decides which monsters the snakes will go after. The snakes
will latch onto a monster and start biting it. This slows the enemy
down, and every bite does damage. The snakes can attack enemies that
have been knocked down. If a player attacks a "snaked" enemy, it
will usually knock the snakes off. If the enemy jumps, the snakes
may fall off.
The snakes cannot be hurt, but only last for a limited time. They
have problems getting to enemies that can fly/levitate or move too
quickly. Since most of the boss enemies fit this description, I find
this spell to be more useful when fighting the normal monsters.
CURE SERIOUS WOUNDS
D&D: This spell, one of the cleric's staples, heals wounds and
injuries.
ToD: This spell will restore a small part of the Cleric's life bar.
It can be used on other players by standing next to them and casting
the spell. This happens whether you intended it or not, so beware of
"cure stealing" by the other players!
--- DWARF ---
Default name: Dimsdale Preferred name: Bruenor
Strength: 11 Age: 58
Intelligence: 8 Armor class: 2
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 12
Charisma: 10
Dwarves are about half the height of a normal human. They are very
hardy and extremely resistant to all kinds of damage, whether
through sword or spell or poison. Dwarves have a natural affinity
for mountains and mines, and their personality is often as hard and
grim as the rock they so love.
The Dwarf has a very short reach. However, he can swing his axe
faster than the other three characters. He performs his first three
attack moves at almost double the speed of the other characters!
If the Dwarf's inventory is completely empty, pressing the "use
item" button will make him do a twirling axe attack. This attack can
hit twice in the air and then once again on the ground. It leaves
him very vulnerable, however, so it must be used with care.
THE MONSTERS
------------
Boss enemies are covered in THE ADVENTURE.
KOBOLD
D&D: These are vile little creatures that like dark, dank places
like dungeons. They hate all other life and love killing and
torture.
ToD: These monsters are pretty wimpy. They don't have a very large
life bar, and can sometimes be killed with a single slam attack.
They're pretty quick with their daggers, though, so treat them with
some caution. They can throw daggers and oil, but usually don't live
long enough to do so.
GNOLL
D&D: These creatures look much like hyenas, but stand like a human.
They live in loose bands, with the stronger dominating the weaker.
They can use a variety of weapons.
ToD: These monsters can be armed with axes or bows. The ones with
bows will hang around at the edges of the screen and fire arrows at
the players. These arrows can be blocked with a shield or knocked
out of the air with a weapon, but they can be a major problem when
other monsters are around, so killing these gnolls should be a top
priority. The ones with axes will aggressively attack the players.
Both types of gnolls will kick if a player gets too close.
SKELETON
D&D: Your basic undead monster. Skeletons are animated by evil
clerics and magic-users and are typically used for guarding areas
from intruders.
ToD: Skeletons move slowly and have a small life bar. However, their
swords give them a considerable reach, and they attack very quickly.
They are very stupid and can often be defeated simply by throwing
some oil into their path.
OWLBEAR
D&D: This monster has the body of a bear with the head of an owl.
They are found in forests and subterranean labyrinths.
ToD: This monster is easy. Wait until it's ready to jump, move out
of the way, then walk up behind it and attack.
TROGLODYTE
D&D: Troglodytes are a race of reptilian humanoids who dwell in
subterranean places. They hate humans. They can change their skin
coloration so as to blend in with their surroundings. They can also
produce a secretion which smells so revolting that those affected
will become temporarily weaker.
ToD: Troglodytes are difficult opponents. They can turn invisible at
will (though their shadow remains and will give them away). They can
jump up into the air from anywhere on the screen and come down on
the head of a player. They can flip end over end and are difficult
to hit while doing so. They can emit a gas cloud which will make any
player in range dizzy (it's not possible to recover from the
dizziness before the troglodyte attacks, but a comrade can attack
the troglodyte first and distract him). They can throw smoking bags.
The bag will damage players it hits, and will burst into flame
shortly after landing on the ground. Troglodyes are not affected by
the fires caused by their bags (though they ARE affected by your
burning oil fires). In addition to all of this, they block your
attacks frequently.
Troglodytes are a serious problem in a solo game because it's so
difficult to hurt them - when you fight one, the others see this
and literally leap to the attack. Your best bet is to use items
against them (oil always works well, and hammers can knock them out
of the air).
GHOUL
D&D: Ghouls are undead. Besides doing damage, their attack has a
chance of paralyzing the victim (except for elves, who will not be
affected).
ToD: Ghouls actually aren't very difficult, because they have such a
short reach. A player who is hurt by them may fall asleep. The Elf
is never put to sleep by ghouls.
FIRE BEETLE
D&D: Fire beetles are the smallest of the giant beetles. They are
relatively weak, but can still deal out some serious damage with
their mandibles.
ToD: These creatures are only found in the limestone caverns and
well of segment 5. They are irritating because they flit around so
quickly. You can try to kill them by just swinging your weapon as
fast as possible, but they may slip in between the strokes and
damage you. The safest way to kill them is to crouch, wait until
they pass overhead, and rolling attack them from behind.
Adam Tennant speculates that these creatures are actually stirges
but that their name was mistranslated.
SCORPION
D&D: My manuals list a giant scorpion, but not the normal kind that
appears in the game.
ToD: These things are really annoying. They can scuttle all over the
screen at tremendous speed and are difficult to hit except when
crouching. They can run right up next to you and attack before you
have a chance to react. They don't attack moving targets well,
though, so sometimes you can just walk right on by them.
Many scorpions in the game will sit somewhere on the screen, not
moving until a player gets very close to them. Quite often, getting
close to them means walking inside the "kill zone" of a trap.
Throwing a special weapon at the scorpion (whether it hits or not)
will usually wake it up and start it moving towards you. This will
let you kill it without having to worry about the trap at the same
time.
TROLL
See the description at the end of the third segment of the
adventure. There is only one other troll in the game, and it's
better to use Polymorph Other on him instead of fighting him.
OGRE
See the description at the end of the first segment of the
adventure. Ogres found later in the game are hard mainly because
their life bars are so long.
HELL HOUND
D&D: Hell hounds are not native to our world. They can move with
great stealth, have excellent hearing, and have such keen eyesight
that they can sometimes detect invisible creatures. They can breathe
fire.
ToD: Most notably, hell hounds can breathe fire. Sometimes this is
just a short jet right in front of them, but usually it takes the
form of a long stream which can go most of the way across the
screen. The hound will try to aim the stream at the players, but
it's fairly easy to avoid if you're expecting it. Once the hell
hound starts breathing, it must continue for a certain amount of
time. This is usually more than long enough to get behind it and lay
about with your weapon.
A hell hound can also attack by running across the screen. Players
who get in the way will sustain damage.
A hell hound is not affected by any kind of fire, including a
Fireball spell.
TEAMWORK
--------
Keep an eye on your fellow adventurers. If someone's dizzy, run
over to protect them. In particular, try to keep the Cleric safe
from harm while he's casting the Turn Undead spell.
Know how much money you have. If you have plenty, let the other
players get all the coins for awhile. Spreading the money around
lets everyone buy healing potions in the shops. Don't forget that
you can give gold to the other players when you're in a shop.
Remember: the less real money the other players have to put into
the game, the happier they're going to be, and the more likely it is
that they're going to continue when they die. Even if the other
players are morons, the game's usually more fun with them than
without.
A final word on character selection: don't play the spellcasters
unless you feel capable of handling them. It takes some experience
to know how to use the Cleric's spells properly, and even more to
play the Elf correctly. Your comrades will not be happy if you waste
all of your spells by firing lightning bolts into thin air or trying
to polymorph undead.
THE ADVENTURE
-------------
This is a basic walkthrough of the game. I've been very vague in
some parts, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. The game adds
extra monsters and treasure with more people, and some things are
randomized in any event, so it can be hard to say with certainty
what's where.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 1
-------------------------
Note: There are no monsters around when the game first begins. It
would be a good idea to PRACTICE YOUR MOVES while you have the
chance. Monsters will not appear until someone moves past the second
book on the ground.
Your party hears cries for help, and rushes to investigate. After
defeating a group of monsters, a wounded caravan guard says that his
caravan was destroyed by monsters. Here you must make a choice: do
you go to monsters' lair in the mountains, or rush to the defense of
the nearby town of Nemiston? The two paths are completely
different, and you can only select one of them.
THE MOUNTAINS: This is a dark cave. The first chest you run into is
trapped. It could be either a fire trap or a deadfall. Setting it
off may (or may not) kill the kobold sitting next to the chest.
At this point you can either go up or down. Downwards is a
Lightning Bolt ring, but not much else. Upwards there is a large
rock that can be pushed aside (it's at the place where the monsters
attack). To push the rock, one of the players must stand directly
to the left or right of it and push up. This is somewhat tricky,
and will usually involve some moving around as you try to find the
right distance, but will eventually put you on the same horizontal
plane as the rock. Move the joystick towards the rock, and your
character will push it away. There are monsters - and quite a few
goodies - in the room beyond.
As Albert Mok pointed out, it's possible to effectively go BOTH
ways by taking advantage of a game bug. Go down, defeat the
skeletons, and get the Lightning Bolt ring. Now go up, staying as
far to the left as you can. If you do this, and DON'T PICK UP
ANYTHING, you'll be able to approach the large rock from the right,
push it aside, and enter the hidden room.
At the end of the level is an ogre leader.
OGRE
D&D: Ogres are big, hulking humanoids. They are selfish and
greedy and none too bright.
ToD: When players are nearby the ogre will swing at them with his
club, which has a long reach and does a great deal of damage. If
the players are far away the ogre will pick up rocks from the cave
floor and hurl them.
Shortly after the combat begins, skeletons will begin to rise from
the cave floor. Even if they're killed, more will keep on coming
until the combat is over.
If too much time passes, the ogre leader will run away. He is the
only boss enemy who will do this. All of the other boss enemies and
virtually all of the monsters in the game will fight until dead.
THE TOWN: Shortly after defeating the first batch of monsters, your
party will come to the Shady Dragon Inn. You can either go inside
(and find some gnolls and treasure) or stay outside. Either choice
will eventually bring you to the ogre leader at the end of the
level.
The ogre is the same one that you would fight if you chose to go
to the mountains. Kobolds will appear continuously until the ogre is
killed. The people tied up on the ground can be freed by walking
over to them and pressing the attack button. The chest they are next
to is made of metal and must be opened by hand.
After killing (or driving off) the ogre, the mayor of Nemiston
will reward you with magic weapons. I've never noticed any major
difference after getting the weapons. I presume that they make your
attacks do slightly more damage.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 2
-------------------------
Note: Up to this point your characters have automatically drawn
their weapons whenever monsters were nearby. From now on, they
usually will NOT. You must press the attack button to draw your
weapon before you can use it!
Your party sets off on the road to Darokin City. After fighting
off some monsters, you come across a wounded soldier. The soldier
tells you the he was part of a patrol from the nearby Fort Cruth,
hunting a dangerous monster. The monster defeated the patrol, and
may even now be attacking the fort. You are given a choice: go to
the fort and rescue it, or hurry to Darokin City to get help.
FORT CRUTH: When you enter the fort, you have a choice of two doors
to go through. The door at the back of the screen leads up to the
battlements. The door to the right leads through the center of the
fort. The center of the fort contains more monsters, but more
treasure as well.
If you go through the door to the right, the room beyond contains
a suit of armor. If you push the armor to the LEFT in the same way
that you pushed the rock in the mountain section of segment 1, a
secret passageway will be revealed. The room beyond contains
treasure, but also some particularly nasty traps.
The next room in the fort also contains a suit of armor. During
the combat, you should push this suit to the LEFT. After the combat
is over, you'll see a lever to the right of the exit door. Pull the
lever and a passageway will open. The room beyond contains a huge
pit full of spikes. If one of the players throws a dagger (or shoots
an arrow) at the white button on the far wall, the pit will close
up. If you're playing solo with the Cleric, you have no way to hit
the button and are out of luck - UNLESS you have a Magic Missile
ring. M. Chin found out that the missile will not aim for the
button, but if you stand on the correct horizontal plane it will hit
anyway.
Eventually your party will reach the end of the level. The boss
enemy is a displacer beast.
DISPLACER BEAST
D&D: A displacer beast looks like a large puma, but with six legs
and two tentacles extending from its back. The tentacles are covered
with sharp horns. The molecules of the displacer beast's body
vibrate in such a way that it appears to be three feet away from
where it actually is. This makes it very difficult to hit.
ToD: The displacer beast can create a copy of itself that moves and
attacks as it does. Attacking the copy destroys it, but the
displacer beast can then create another. The real displacer beast
has a shadow; the copy does not. Note that the copy is an ILLUSION
and its attacks cannot hurt the players.
The displacer beast will hop short distances vertically until it
is on the same horizontal plane as a player, then lash out with its
long tentacles. If all of the players are far away, the monster will
leap across the screen at them.
In a solo game, the displacer beast is pretty easy. Run away from
it, wait for it to leap at you, hit it with your weapon until it
gets knocked down, then repeat. In a multi-player game the displacer
beast is actually harder because it's difficult to tell which player
it's going to go after.
DAROKIN CITY: After fighting off monsters, your party will make camp
for the night. A young girl will run through your camp, screaming
for help. She is being pursued by a hungry manticore.
"What luck! I thought I would have to settle for a mere morsel, but
an entire feast has come straight to me!"
MANTICORE
D&D: A manticore is a lion with bat wings and a human head. They
are usually found in caves or dungeons. Their favorite food is
human flesh. Manticores can fire volleys of iron spikes from their
tails.
ToD: The manticore usually attacks by swiping with its paws or
running across the screen. It can flap its wings to rise in the air,
and will then either fire spikes from its tail (some of which will
be aimed specifically at the players) or fly off of the top of the
screen and dive down at a player.
Dealing with the manticore just requires some patience. Wait until
it runs or dives, then walk up behind it and attack.
Daniel Lau advises:
"When fighting the manticore (or any other 'long' monsters) it is
possible to kill it in 30 seconds by using the changing-direction
method. Go right to the middle of the manticore's body, face it and
attack, immediately turn around and attack again, then turn and
attack, turn and attack, ect. Each attack makes it move back a step,
but since you turn around and attack immediately, the next attack
will make it move back to where it was before. This ends up keeping
it in one spot."
I've tried this technique, but the manticore just gets knocked
down when I turn around. Perhaps somebody else can make it work.
After defeating the manticore, the girl that you rescued will
reappear. She will tell you that her father owns a trading post near
Corunglain, and that they can suitably reward you there.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 3
-------------------------
Corwyn Linton, master of the city of Athenos, has heard of your
exploits. He charters a ship for you and requests that you come to
Athenos to speak with him. On the way, though, the ship is attacked
by monsters!
The ship is infested with troglodytes and a few ghouls. There is
nothing deliberately hidden, but on the ship's deck items can
disappear from sight behind the railing. The boss enemy of of this
segment is a troll.
TROLL
D&D: Trolls are horrid man-like carnivores. They have tremendous
regenerative powers, and must be destroyed with acid or fire. If
this is not done, the troll will regenerate any damage sustained and
continue to fight.
ToD: The troll is a tough opponent. It moves very quickly. If a
player gets too close to the troll, it will pick him up and begin
biting him, doing damage with every bite. Joystick-wiggling will not
free the player, but an attack on the troll by another player will.
The troll is terribly afraid of fire. If a player throws burning
oil, the troll will run away from the fire and wait until it burns
out. In a solo game, it's virtually impossible to hit the troll with
oil (unless it's dizzy or blinded). In a multi-player game, with
another player distracting the troll, it's not too hard.
The troll's life force will slowly regenerate as combat continues.
The more damage it regenerates, though, the shorter its life bar
will get.
If the troll is killed, and the killing blow was not from a
Fireball spell or an oil fire, it will regenerate its wounds and
attack again. It will continue to attack until it is killed by fire
or a certain amount of time has passed, at which point soldiers from
another part of the ship will firebomb it for you.
If the troll is killed by something other than fire, a player can
run over to it while it's regenerating and throw oil at its body (or
cast a Fireball spell). This will destroy it.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 4
-------------------------
Corwyn tells you that his caravans are being ravaged by a black
dragon. He asks if you will destroy it for him. Both of the
possible responses come down to the same thing: YES.
If you didn't go to the town in segment 1, Corwyn will give you
magic weapons.
The swamp that the black dragon lives in is filled with ghouls.
These are no problem if you've got the Cleric along. Burning oil
won't work in this segment (the swamp is too wet), but the segment
is so short that it isn't a problem. Once you've defeated the
ghouls, the mist will clear and the black dragon will descend from
the sky.
BLACK DRAGON
D&D: Black dragons are typically found in swamps or marshes. Their
breath weapon is a stream of caustic acid which they spit from their
mouths. Like all dragons, they can use their breath weapon only
three times per day.
ToD: The black dragon hovers in the air, attacking the players with
its claws or teeth. A Fireball spell will not hurt it (the fireball
always misses). The snakes created by a Sticks To Snakes spell can't
get to it. Daggers and arrows will go under it and miss.
The black dragon will use its acid breath weapon when it first
sees the characters. It may breathe acid two additional times
during the battle. As the acid does quite a bit of damage, I
suggest staying as far away from the dragon as possible until it has
breathed three times. If someone casts a spell while the dragon is
breathing acid, the acid attack is spoiled and wasted.
It's tough to fight the dragon with your standard weapon, because
its attacks are so quick. It will claw at you if you attack from
the ground, and will usually knock you out of the air if you jump at
it. Your best bet is to use hammers against it. Stand in front of
and slightly above or below the dragon, throw a hammer, and
immediately put up your shield (there's no time to dodge). If
you're lucky, the hammer will hit the dragon and the claws will hit
your shield. Because the dragon is so big, it's possible for the
same hammer to hit it several times.
As it claws at you, the dragon will rise and descend. There is a
short period of time in which the dragon is too high to hit you with
its claws. You should attack at this point and then immediately duck
behind your shield again.
In a multi-player game, the black dragon will only go after one
character at a time. The other players should try to get behind it
and attack. It can turn around pretty fast, though, so be careful.
I was ONCE able to hit the black dragon with a Fireball spell. The
fireball passed close to but MISSED its neck, and the dragon was
thrown across the screen with smoke coming off of its head. I've
never been able to repeat this. My guess is that the designers
realized during playtesting that the dragon would be too easy to
beat if you could use Fireball against it, and used some "quick &
dirty" method to make it invulerable. If someone knows how to hit
the dragon consistently, I'd like to hear about it.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 5
-------------------------
Corwyn tells you that he has become suspicious of the level of
organization in recent monster attacks. He believes that someone is
controlling these monsters and forcing them to fight together
instead of against each other.
Following his suggestions, your party arrives at the city of
Corunglain. The mayor of the city tells you that the local monsters
have become much more aggressive recently. There are three places
where they are particularly active: a limestone cavern, an old mine,
and a well. Your party must choose which of these they want to
explore. All of them eventually lead to the underground city.
The shop at the beginning of this segment is of particular
interest. If your party went to Fort Cruth in segment 2, the man
behind the counter will tell you that his daughter Clea vanished
without a trace on the road to Nemiston, probably devoured by
monsters. If, however, you did NOT go to the fort, Clea herself
will be behind the counter - for she is the girl you saved from the
manticore! For rescuing Clea, all of the items in the shop will be
marked down. Additionally, if you talk to her, she will give each
member of your party a ring of protection +1!
THE LIMESTONE CAVERN: The cavern is populated by fire beetles,
gnolls, hell hounds, and ogres.
One of the rooms in the cavern contains both fire beetles and a
trap that will fire a wave of arrows every second. Crouch and lead
the beetles into the arrow trap and it will quickly dispose of them.
There is a room hidden behind a rock wall in part of the cavern.
During the battle that occurs near it, the rocks covering the
opening may (or may not) fall down.
THE OLD MINE: The mine contains undead, gnolls, and hell hounds.
Right near the beginning of the mine, there is a room with a sign
in it that says "watch for falling rocks". On the far right side of
the room is a rockslide with a skeletal hand protruding. Going too
near this rockslide will cause rocks to start falling from the
ceiling. This is similar to a deadfall trap, but the rocks can hit
the characters no matter where in the room they run to. Casting a
spell during this will protect the party, for the rocks will
continue to fall (harmlessly) while the spell is being cast.
There is a tiara in a passageway later on that has a similar trap
on it; getting too close to it will cause rocks to start falling,
and they can hit players no matter how far they run. Near the tiara,
there's a "secret" room that can be reached only by moving to the
bottom of the screen and pulling down. The graphics give no clue as
to where this room is, so you'll have to find it by moving
horizontally and then pulling down, over and over.
THE WELL: The well is full of troglodytes and fire beetles.
The first room in the well contains fire beetles. You do NOT have
to fight these. There is a passage on the back wall that will take
you to the next room. You lose nothing (except the experience
points) by going through the passage instead of fighting the
beetles.
Be careful of fire in this section. The water flow through the
well will carry fires - both from your oil and the troglodytes' bags
- to the left. Sometimes this can work to your advantage.
On the back wall of one of the passages is a white diamond.
Pushing this diamond will open up a door to a secret room.
Once, I was playing a solo game and fighting a group of
troglodytes in one of the later passages of the well. I had killed
all but one troglodyte and had reduced the last one's life bar to
almost nothing. Suddenly, the last troglodyte ran to the back of the
passage, did something to open up a secret door, and disappeared
through it. I have no idea what I did to cause this, and have
never been able to make it happen again. The room the troglodyte ran
into contained some nice things, but nothing extraordinary.
THE UNDERGROUND CITY: The cavern, mine, and well all lead here. As
soon as your characters appear on the screen, gnolls will run out
from the sides and kick logs at them. Jump over the logs to avoid
taking damage.
There is a room which contains a sign that reads "the truth is
your heart". There are three ways to leave this room. One is through
the door at the back of the room. Another is to walk through the
flames (they're just an illusion). The third is to walk through a
door in the lower right corner of the room.
Going up is the worst of the three choices. There is a troll in
the room beyond (polymorph him if you can) and a small amount of
treasure.
Walking through the flames is usually the best choice, because the
rooms beyond contain (among other things) a Cure Serious Wounds
ring. Such rings are few and far between. There are more flame
jets later on, and these flames are real! They must be deactivated
by pulling a lever on the wall nearby. Sometimes there is a sign
beyond which reads "don't feed the fire".
Going through the door in the lower right hand corner will take
you to a passageway filled with spear traps that pop up and down at
regular intervals. There is a lightning bolt spell ring located
inside the "kill zone" of one of the traps. You can try to run in,
grab it, and run out before the spears pop up, but you'll usually
get nailed. A safe but slow alternative is to hack away at the
spears with your weapon when they pop up. This will eventually
destroy all the spears and effectively disarm the trap.
A door in the spear-trapped passageway leads to a room with a sign
in it and two levers against the back wall. The sign says different
things from game to game. Pulling a lever will cause a metal chest
filled with goodies to fall from the ceiling, or spring a
deadfall-like trap that can hit characters no matter where in the
room they are. The message on the sign is always accurate, but it
is sometimes in the form of a puzzle. A hint for the trickiest ones:
the most powerful goddess in the Japanese Shintoism religion is
Amaterasu Omikami, goddess of the sun - and the sun rises in the
east.
All three of these passages will eventually connect back into one.
After fighting a battle on a rope bridge and surviving another
cavern, you'll be confronted by the Dark Elf.
"Welcome! Do you fools truly believe that you can defeat me? If you
have any courage, face me now! If you have any intelligence, flee
while you can!"
The game calls this enemy a Shadow Elf. I assume that this is a
mistranslation of Dark Elf. As far as I know, there are no "shadow"
elves in D&D.
DARK ELF
D&D: The dark elves, commonly known as "drow", are an evil race of
elves who worship the Spider Queen, a goddess known as Lloth or
Lolth, depending upon who you ask. They live in huge underground
cities and engage in constant power struggles to gain the favor of
their bloodthirsty goddess. Because these struggles weed out the
weak, the drow that survive are invariably deadly adversaries. Much
background information on the dark elves can be found in a series of
novels by R. A. Salvatore called the "Dark Elf Trilogy". The novels
concern a drow who has (gasp) principles and wants to escape the
vicious lifestyle of his people.
ToD: The Dark Elf is a skilled fighter who blocks your attacks
frequently. In addition to walking around and attacking with his
sword, he can teleport, cast spells, and jump off of the top of the
screen, always coming down on someone's head (watch for his shadow).
He is not affected by Hold Person.
When the Dark Elf has lost about a fifth of his life bar, he will
teleport back to the platform he started on and laugh. Skeletons
will rise from the ground, and if one is killed another will take
its place. There are only so many skeletons, but it's better to try
to ignore them and go after the Dark Elf.
As the Dark Elf's life bar becomes lower, he will cast spells more
and more frequently. There is no limit to the number of times he can
cast each spell. His spells are:
SLEEP
D&D: This spell causes some or all of the caster's opponents to fall
into a comatose sleep.
ToD: Party members may fall asleep (wiggle joystick to wake up).
Each character has a chance of resisting this spell. If he does, it
has no effect on him.
SPEED
D&D: There is no direct analogue to this spell. The closest thing
would be a Haste spell or a potion of speed. Each of these doubles
the speed with which a character can attack, but costs him a year of
his life.
ToD: The Dark Elf immediately speeds up. He attacks twice as fast,
recovers from burning/dizziness twice as fast, and casts spells
twice as fast (and as an interesting touch, he even says the spell
names twice as fast). This spell is cumulative! After casting it
twice, the Dark Elf is unbelievably fast and virtually impossible to
fight.
This spell doesn't last forever - it will eventually wear off. If
you're playing solo as the Elf, you can cast Invisibility and just
wait it out.
The Dark Elf can also cast Lightning Bolt, Invisibility, and Hold
Person. These work much like your party's versions of these spells.
Play defensively to beat the Dark Elf. When he teleports, run over
to him and attack him before he can do anything. When he jumps off
of the top of the screen and comes down on you, his sword will be
extended towards you. Either block the sword with your shield or
step out of the way and attack him from the other side. Avoid being
on the same horizontal plane as the Dark Elf to lower your chance of
being hit by a Lightning Bolt spell.
Combat will continue until the Dark Elf's life bar is almost gone.
Even if you completely eliminate his life bar with a powerful spell,
you cannot kill the Dark Elf at this point in the game.
"You think you have defeated me. But my master is more powerful than
you can possibly imagine..."
Licking your blood off of his sword, the Dark Elf invites you to
come to Sable Tower, where his master Deimos can give you his
personal attention. He then jumps off of the top of the screen and
vanishes.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 6
-------------------------
The mayor of Corunglain tells you that a mysterious black tower
has appeared in the Broken Lands to the north. He suspects that this
is the Sable Tower your party was told of.
The characters head for Fort Runnels, an outpost near the tower,
to gain more information on it. On the way, the party is attacked
by a manticore. The advice given in segment 2 is applicable here.
Since your party is now considerably more powerful, the manticore
should be an easy kill.
At the fort, you're told that there are two ways to get to the
tower. You can take the long path around the mountain, or use the
old dwarven tunnels going through it. But the mountain is home to
the great red dragon Flamewing!
THE LONG PATH: At the end of the path is a cavern containing a
beholder.
"Welcome! You are just in time for dinner!"
BEHOLDER
D&D: A beholder is an evil and powerful monster that prefers to lair
in dungeons. It floats in the air by levitation. Each of the ten
eyes sprouting from its top is capable of causing a different
spell-like effect. These effects are: charm person, charm monster,
sleep, telekinesis, flesh to stone, disintegrate, fear, slow
(opponents), cause serious wounds, and death ray. Its central eye
projects an anti-magic cone that prevents spells from working within
it.
ToD: The beholder moves rapidly around the screen ramming into
opponents. It can float up into the air and try to land on
someone's head, and if it hits it will usually grab the character in
its mouth and start biting. Joystick-wiggling will not allow the
character to escape the bite, but an attack from a comrade will
force the beholder to let go.
The beholder can fire several rays from the eyes on its top. These
rays have the following effects:
Sleep (small blue bubbles): Anyone hit by this falls asleep.
Petrify (inverted yellow triangles): Characters in the path of the
beam begin to turn to stone, as with the petrify trap. There appears
to be a game bug which will sometimes not give you as much time as
you're supposed to be given to avoid petrification.
Cause serious wounds (greenish-blue spheres): Characters hit by the
ray sustain damage.
Telekinesis (white circles): The character is lifted into the air
and dropped. There doesn't seem to be any way to avoid taking damage
from the drop.
When the beholder uses an eye ray or flies quickly across the
screen, its central eye may (or may not) close. Spells used when
the central eye is closed will work properly. If a spell is used
when the central eye is open, the eye will bug out and the spell
will fail. This applies to spells cast from spell rings as well as
from memory.
As combat progresses, the beholder's small eyes will gradually be
destroyed.
BATTLE FLAMEWING: You're given two chances to change your mind if
you select this option. If you elect to continue, all of your
characters' life bars will be restored to full before you enter the
dragon's cave. Due to a game bug, your spellcasters will NOT
recover any spells they used on the manticore.
The only enemy in the cave is Flamewing himself.
"You pathetic fools! Was it honor or greed that brought you to my
lair? Either way, I'll show you what a grave mistake you've made!"
RED DRAGON
D&D: Red dragons are the most wicked and powerful of the evil wyrms.
Their breath weapon is fire. Like all dragons, they can use their
breath weapon three times a day.
ToD: Flamewing is the toughest opponent in the game. When he first
appears he will breathe a swath of flame that will immediately kill
any character who touches it. Prior to breathing fire, he will fill
his lungs with air, and the wind force will pull the party towards
the center of the screen. Your characters must dash to escape from
the center of the screen - just walking won't do it. Anyone who's
still in the center of the screen when Flamewing starts to breathe
is a dead duck. Flamewing will move his breath to follow the
players, but there is always a safe zone at the edges of the screen.
Flamewing will breathe two more times during the fight. He'll
always say something just before he does. Watch for the text to
avoid a nasty surprise.
A Fireball will only hurt Flamewing if it passes across his face
(the actual detonation will do no damage). Ice Storm damages him,
but no more so than any other spell. The snakes created by a Sticks
To Snakes spell can't reach him. He cannot be blinded or made dizzy.
Daggers, hammers, and arrows work well against him.
Besides his breath, Flamewing has many ways to attack. He can
swipe with his claws, doing tremendous damage. He can bite with his
teeth, often by grabbing a knocked-down player in his mouth before
the player can get up. He can create a fireball in one of his claws
and shoot it towards a player (distance is not a factor). He can
fly up and ram the ceiling, causing rocks to fall in a way similar
to a deadfall trap. He can fly up and down again, slamming his claws
onto the ledge the players are standing on. Any character who is not
jumping when the claws come down will take damage. For some reason,
shooting him in the face with an arrow will cause him to use this
attack immediately. I have used this in the past for a temporary
respite when Flamewing had me in a bad position.
Flamewing will only go after one player at a time. That player
should try to stay alive while the other players pelt the dragon
with weapons and spells. When attacking Flamewing, always aim for
the head; attacks on the claws will usually just bounce off. I
suggest staying as far away as possible - preferably outside of his
claws - when using special weapons and spells. You should only need
to get close to his head when your inventory is empty or you're trying
to hit him with a Fireball spell. Staying this far away puts you at
risk of getting backhanded by his claw when he pulls it back to
strike, but keeps you away from his head, which can move very
quickly when he's trying to bite.
When you're finally out of long-range weapons and have to move in
towards his head, the obvious thing to do is to run up, possibly
jump, and slash at him with your sword. A better way is to move off
of the horizontal plane his head is on, dash at him, and move onto
his head's plane just as you pass him. Then, still dashing, quickly
jump and slash behind you. This is somewhat harder to do, but is
safer - it gets you away from him quickly, and you never pass
directly across his face.
In a solo game, you really don't have much of a chance because
Flamewing will be going after you all of the time. If you feel
compelled to try to kill the dragon by yourself, use the Elf - at
least you'll be able to do some damage with your spells before you
die.
If you defeat Flamewing, you'll be given thirty seconds to stroll
through his treasure cave. In addition to the money and magic items,
there is something of particular significance: a ring of fire
resistance.
In D&D, a ring of fire resistance makes its wearer immune to
damage from normal fires, and offers some protection from very hot
or magical fires. In ToD, whoever picks up the ring can walk through
burning oil fires with impunity and takes less damage if hit by hell
hound breath. The whole party does not get this benefit - only the
person who picked the ring up.
The segment ends immediately when someone picks up the ring, so
make sure you've gotten all of the other valuable stuff first.
On the high score screen, a small red dragon will appear on top of
the name of anyone who was in the game at the time Flamewing was
killed.
THE ADVENTURE - SEGMENT 7
-------------------------
Your party finally arrives at the black fountain of evil, Sable
Tower.
One of the rooms in the tower contains three chains which can be
pulled by standing in front of them and pressing the attack button.
One chain makes burning oil fall from the ceiling. Another makes
scorpions start to fall from the ceiling. The third creates a puff
of dust in the background. Daniel Lau discovered that this chain
makes magic weapons appear in a chest on the next level. Albert Mok
claims that the scorpion in this room will always start out next to
the "dust" chain, but I have not verified this.
A room on the next level is empty except for a large wooden chest.
If someone knocks the chest open with their weapon, there is a puff
of green smoke and the character reports the chest to be empty. If,
however, the chest is opened by hand, there will be magic weapons
inside...IF you pulled the "dust" chain on the previous level. If
you didn't, there will be some other stuff in it, but no magic
weapons.
When you reach the top of the tower, the Dark Elf will reappear.
"Welcome! I'm so delighted you could join us. This time I'll waste
no time and finish you off immediately!"
The Dark Elf will use magic more often, but otherwise isn't much
more difficult than he was before. After you defeat him you'll be
able to enter Deimos's penthouse suite.
Deimos will tell you that you've survived this long only because
he wants the pleasure of dealing with you personally. He calls out
"dissolve" and the floor turns to mud. Mud golems will arise and
attack the party.
MUD GOLEM
D&D: Golems are creatures animated by the power of magic. They are
created by powerful magic-users or clerics. Mud golems are not
specifically mentioned in my manuals, but golems in general are very
strong and resilient.
ToD: These golems move slowly but attack with great power. They are
immune from burning oil fires, but can be hurt by Fireballs. Golems
don't need to breathe and are not undead, so Cloud Kill and Turn
Undead won't affect them.
A major difference between the mud golems and all previous
monsters is that the golems aren't stunned when they take damage.
Any attack that was in progress when the golem was hit will
continue, and this will usually result in the player getting hurt.
The golems' reaction time isn't too good, so the preferred way to
defeat them is to wait for one to start flailing about with its arms
and then slip behind it and attack.
The golems can sink into the mud floor and become part of it. The
golems will then be able to form hands next to the players and grab
at them. The golems are very hard to hit while they're doing this,
so it's usually better to just keep moving around and wait for them
to take on humanoid form again.
Albert Mok discovered a game bug with the mud golems. If the Elf
casts Cloud Kill as soon as possible after Deimos calls out
"dissolve", the game will think that the golems are all dead and
proceed to the fight with Deimos. They aren't, though, and they'll
wreak havoc on your defenseless party (the joysticks are all
deactivated) while the floor hardens up again. Since the golems
actually aren't that difficult, I recommend that you ignore this bug
and beat the golems in the normal way.
After all of the golems are defeated, Deimos will call out
"harden" and the floor will turn solid again. He makes more promises
of death and destruction, and then comes down from his throne to
face you himself.
DEIMOS
D&D: Deimos is a lich. A lich is an evil magic-user or cleric who,
through ultra-powerful magic, has made himself undead. A lich keeps
the intelligence and magic power he possessed in his previous life,
and gains new powers because of his undead status. A book by Jean
Rabe called Red Magic has a lich as a main character.
ToD: Deimos hovers in the air, moving around the screen in an
unpredictable pattern. His main form of attack is to strike with his
staff, which has an extremely long range. Arrows will hit him, but
the other special weapons will pass right through him. He is far too
powerful to be affected by Turn Undead. The snakes created by Sticks
To Snakes have trouble getting to him, but can sometimes do it. He
cannot be blinded or made dizzy. Magic Missile cannot hurt him, but
will sometimes distract him. Ice Storm will damage him. He is
immune to Fireball and Lightning Bolt. In D&D, liches ARE
vulnerable to fire-based spells. Perhaps the sphere in Deimos's hand
is providing the equivalent of a Minor Globe of Invulnerability
spell.
Deimos can cast the following spells:
MIRROR IMAGE
D&D: This spell creates several copies of the magician, which move
as he does. The blurring effect of this spell makes it impossible
to pick the magician out from his duplicates. If one of the copies
is struck with a weapon, it will vanish.
ToD: Several flickering images of Deimos will be created. They move
through the same path he does, and attack when he does. Their
attacks do damage as if they were the real thing. Attacking an image
will destroy it.
FIRE SHIELD
D&D: I *assume* that this is the spell he's casting - he doesn't
call out its name. This spell appears to immolate the magic-user in
flame. Anyone attacking the magician with a hand-held weapon will do
normal damage, but will himself sustain DOUBLE that due to the
magical flames.
ToD: Vertical bands of flame spread outward from Deimos in a circle.
Anyone hit by the bands will be set on fire. Deimos will only use
this spell when there's someone near him.
METEOR SWARM
D&D: With this spell the magician can fire either four or eight
meteors at his opponents. The meteors explode like a Fireball spell
when they reach their targets. If only four meteors are created,
they will be twice as powerful.
ToD: Either four or eight meteors will fall from the top of the
screen, exploding when they hit the ground. Some will fall randomly,
but most will be aimed specifically at the players.
TELEPORT
D&D: A Teleport spell isn't the kind of thing you'd normally use in
combat - it can transport you to anywhere in the world, and has a
chance of malfunctioning and killing the caster no matter how near
or far the destination is. The way Deimos uses it resembles a spell
called Dimension Door (a safe, short-range teleport) more than
anything else. It's supposed to leave the caster stunned for a few
moments after using it, though, and Deimos is never stunned by his
teleporting.
ToD: Deimos will disappear and reappear somewhere else on the
screen.
Deimos can also cast Fireball and Lightning Bolt. These work the
same as the Elf's versions, except that the Fireball can be aimed at
any point on the screen (not necessarily on the same horizontal
plane as Deimos).
A skull will flicker around Deimos as he casts a spell. Attacking
him while the skull is there will usually spoil the spell.
Every now and then Deimos will make the screen flash. This knocks
all players to the ground (but doesn't do any damage). Several
undead will flicker into existence a moment later. He can only do
this a certain number of times.
If you try to move straight towards Deimos from the left or right,
he'll strike at you with his staff. Try to stay above or below him
while you get to the horizontal position you want to be at, then
move in and attack. You want to be as far away as possible and still
be able to hit him with your weapon. Too close and he'll run into
you and do damage. Too far away and he'll be out of the range of
your weapon, but still close enough to attack you with his staff.
I find that the easiest way to defeat Deimos is to wait for him to
come onto my horizontal plane and then rolling attack him. This has
to be done with care - if you're too close or far the attack will
miss and Deimos will probably hit you. It's also much harder with
other players in because it's so difficult to predict where Deimos
is going to move.
It can take a while, but if you keep plugging away you'll
eventually beat Deimos.
"No! This is impossible! I am destined to rule, to conquer! How
could I have been beaten by whelps like you?"
With Deimos's death, the Sable Tower will start to sink back into
the ground.
Cleric: "We've got to get out of here! The tower is collapsing!"
Elf: "Wait, look above his throne - that's a teleport crystal!"
Fighter: "Then get it working and get us out of here!"
One by one, the crystal will teleport your party to safety. Your
characters watch from a nearby bluff as the tower fades away. The
credits roll up the screen. You're a Real Hero!
If all four characters are playing when the game is won -OR- at
least one player finishes the entire game on one credit, a special
animation will play at the end of the credits.
Cleric: "You would leave us now? We triumphed together! There is
still much work to be done."
Dwarf: "Ho, he is right. What of the fellowship? Is battle all there
is for you?"
Elf: "Guys? Hey, wait for me!"
Elf: "Well, that was a pleasant diversion. Now what can we do for
a little excitement?"
Elf: "Thank you." (for playing)
Only one question...if they were willing to digitize thirty
seconds worth of voices here, why didn't they do it for the game's
real ending?
The animation closes with the words, "to be continued". Let's
hope they make a sequel, eh?
HUMOR
-----
You can really annoy the other players at the machine by
roleplaying your character to the hilt. One way to roleplay is to
call out "YAH!" (with the same intonation as the Cleric when he uses
spell rings) whenever you do something heroic. Heroic actions
include (but are not limited to) dealing the killing blow to a tough
monster, selecting the most dangerous path through the game, and
grabbing all of the treasure before your comrades can get there.
Push aside one of the movable rocks (such as the one in the
mountains of segment 1), wait for the rest of the party to go
inside, and then try to push the rock back over the opening. It
won't work, but it looks hilarious.
My first experience with ToD was watching a group of distinctly
unsportsmanlike people play the game. They were a motley band,
thrown together by the winds of fate, and spent as much time arguing
and cursing at each other as they did fighting the monsters.
At one point the stalwart adventurers stumbled across a rather
large (and ominous-looking) chest. Since the chest might possibly be
(gasp) trapped, no one was particularly interested in getting too
close to it.
Player #1: Open it up.
Player #2: I think it's trapped.
Player #1: It's not trapped.
Player #2: Then you open it up.
Player #1: I'm not gonna open it up.
Eventually one of the other players got bored and knocked the
chest open. The adventurers pulled back as one, with each player
trying to hide behind the others. But instead of dire traps, only
goodies poured out onto the stone floor.
Someone: I need that!
And so, in tangle of arms and legs, the great quest continued...
ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE
-------------------
Here, as near as I can remember, is all of the you-and-enemy
dialogue from the game that wasn't included in other parts of the
FAQ. Unfortunately, I'm only human. I can't remember it all
word-for-word, and many sections are missing.
After the party is defeated by the Ogre:
"Ha ha, you are beaten."
After the Ogre runs away (because the party didn't kill him quickly
enough):
"Mark my words, you haven't seen the last of me."
After the party is defeated by the Displacer Beast:
"Wrowwl!"
After the party is defeated by the Manticore:
(sorry, forgot it)
After the party is defeated by the Troll:
"Hungry! Smell food!"
After the party is defeated by the Black Dragon:
"Wrowwl!"
After the party is defeated by the Dark Elf:
"Oh, what a shame. Such strength. Such courage. Such stupidity."
After the party defeats the Dark Elf:
(there's a lot more he says than this but I've forgotten it)
"You think you have defeated me. But my master is more powerful
than you can possibly imagine.
When next we meet, I will sing as I break your bodies and crush
your spirits.
So come, come, 'heroes' to the Sable Tower. I'll be waiting for
you. Try not to be too late, ha ha."
After the party is defeated by the Beholder:
"Now witness your doom!"
Things Flamewing says right before he breathes fire:
"You pathetic fools! Was it honor or greed that brought you to my
lair? Either way, I'll show you what a grave mistake you've made!"
"Well done. I'm amazed you've lasted this long."
"Now I will destroy you!"
After the party is defeated by Flamewing:
"You fools, I can't be defeated. It's a pity you learned such an
important lesson so late in life."
When the party first encounters Deimos:
"As I suspected, you actually think that you can defeat me, don't
you? You fools, don't you realize that you've gotten this far only
so that I can personally watch your death throes?
My minions will destroy you. And when you fall, the four lands
will fall with you."
After the party defeats Deimos's mud golems:
"Well done, knaves. You handle yourselves well against my weak,
inept minions. Now face the full power and wrath of Deimos, lord of
the night!
With your defeat, nothing will stop me."
After the party is defeated by Deimos:
"You have amused me enough. Now, 'heroes', prepare for the end!"
CONTRIBUTORS
------------
Daniel Lau (laud@cs.curtin.edu.au) offered advice for fighting the
manticore, and discovered the connection between the "dust" chain
and the magic weapons in Sable Tower.
Adam Tennant (ahriman@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz) speculated that "fire
beetle" might be a mistranslation of "stirge".
MoonLite (moon@mermaid.micro.umn.edu) noticed that the contents of
a chest were determined by who opened it.
William D. Wong (wwong@uiuc.edu) reminded me that there were four
D&D boxed sets, not two.
M. Chin (mchin@bubba.att.com) discovered that the Cleric could get
past the pit in Fort Cruth if he had a Magic Missile ring.
Albert Mok (AKKMOK@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca) discovered the
Cloud Kill/mud golems game bug, noticed that Gas traps drain your
life force, found out how to go both ways in the mountains of
segment 1, claims that the scorpion always starts out next to the
"dust" chain in Sable Tower, and says that sometimes a victim of a
Lightning Bolt spell will be surrounded by a yellow circle.
-LOSER-, a player at a local arcade, showed me how to use the
rolling attack to devastating effect.
LET THE QUEST FOR ADVENTURE GO ON!